Cyno: "Something still feels off... The Elemental Energy here is too concentrated. The scent of life... Is it trying to tell us something?"
"Hmm..." Alhaitham used the Akasha System to detect what appeared to be crucial information on the remains.
"Fortunately, there are instruments from Deshret's Civilization within the mausoleum. I'll project this information onto those devices to display it."
Rahman: "Sharing knowledge... Doesn't that violate your principles?"
Alhaitham: "It does. But given your presence here, I want you to receive this information directly. Once you've seen it, you'll understand."
Using the Akasha System connected to his ear, Alhaitham projected the information from the remains onto Deshret's devices. The devices then projected the information into the surrounding space.
In addition to the visuals, the group heard a male voice:
[Civilization is born from knowledge, and by that same knowledge, civilization can be destroyed.]
[Disaster descends unnoticed—knowledge that does not belong to this world.]
[Ever since Deshret brought the Forbidden Knowledge into this world, it has spread like a plague.]
-
[If not for the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata extending her aid from within the forest, all would have been irrevocably lost.]
[She summoned priests to construct several Temples, pouring her life's divine power into them.]
[Miraculously, the calamity was contained, and the ember of civilization was preserved in Aaru Village.]
[But miracles cannot endure. As long as the Forbidden Knowledge persists, it will forever remain a festering wound on this world.]
[In the end, the proud King of the Desert... my King... chose self-sacrifice.]
[For the rest of my life, I guarded one of The Temples. Now, this duty is drawing to its end.]
[As I was about to close my eyes, a young woman found me. I granted her the authority over the Temple...]
[She vowed to never let the people of the Desert suffer from hunger and hardship again.]
[O people of the Desert, let go of your grudges.]
[But never forget this act of kindness.]
-
Inside the Temple:
Dehya: "What was that just now?"
Alhaitham: "The memories of this skeleton."
"No... no! Impossible!"
Rahman shook his head vehemently, unable to believe what he had just witnessed.
Cyno sighed in disbelief, "Greater Lord Rukkhadevata... the previous Dendro Archon, wasn't actually an enemy of Deshret."
Rahman: "How could that be?! The Dendro Archon's followers were clearly..."
Deshret had brought Forbidden Knowledge, Deshret had sought his own death, and Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had saved the Desert...
In the past, all the survivors among Deshret's people had gathered in Aaru Village. They dismissed these stories as mere rumors, stubbornly clinging to the belief that their God could never have made such a mistake.
To them, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was nothing more than the culprit who had stabbed them in the back during their darkest hour—just like how people in the Desert slaughtered, fought, and harbored grudges against one another.
Yet, the death of Deshret nearly annihilated the Desert Civilization. It was only Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's descent that preserved the last Spark.
For centuries, many Desert folk have harbored hatred toward Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and her people.
How could they repay such kindness with malice?!
"Ha... ha... If I hadn't witnessed it with my own eyes, if these eyes, these ears, this heart hadn't truly felt those dying words..."
"How could I ever believe such an incomprehensible distortion could exist?! How could I ever accept that I raised my blade against my benefactor and lived with that for so many years?!"
Rahman wept and laughed hysterically before collapsing onto the ground.
"What exactly has our caravan been fighting for?!"
While Rahman wrestled with his existential crisis, Alhaitham and the others were still processing what they had just witnessed.
Most of the information was straightforward, but the Priest's final words about encountering a young woman in his dying moments...
"What does it mean to wield the authority of the Temple? And if a promise was made, why hasn't the lives of the Desert people changed at all?"
Lumine and her companions continued to explore the Temple, hoping to uncover any further discoveries of significance.
Unfortunately, their search yielded nothing.
The mystery surrounding Chu Xi's Dendro Vision remained unresolved. Having spent considerable time here, it was time to leave.
Before departing, Dehya asked Rahman, who had finally regained his composure:
"What are your plans now that we're heading back?"
Rahman replied, "I know what you want to ask. I feel deeply ashamed of my actions... You will see the results you seek."
"But give me some time. I need to explain everything that happened today to my brothers."
Rahman agreed to release all the Village Keepers and pledged to Dehya that she could call upon their mercenary group for assistance whenever needed.
This expedition to the Temple had gained them several valuable allies, making the journey worthwhile.
-
After escaping the temple, the group returned to Aaru Village for a well-deserved rest.
The next day, they met Rahman at the agreed-upon location. True to his word, Rahman released the Village Keepers and, with their help, captured two Akademiya Scholars who had been acting as intermediaries with the Fatui: Joudar and Morghi.
Under interrogation, the Scholars revealed everything they knew.
"The Akademiya is executing a grand plan that could reshape the world. They seek to create a new god for Sumeru, one of their own making."
Lumine had mentioned this earlier, so the group's reaction was relatively calm. What they wanted were more details.
"Though Sumeru still appears prosperous on the surface, its academic progress has stagnated since Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's passing. Moreover, Irminsul is withering at an alarming rate. The Sages have exhausted every method to halt its decay, all to no avail. They often lament, 'If only Greater Lord Rukkhadevata were still here...'"
"It was then that a Fatui member, whom they call 'the Doctor,' arrived. He brought with him... a Gnosis, claiming he wished to utilize the Akademiya's research facilities."
Angie clicked her tongue but didn't interrupt the Scholar.
"The Doctor was once expelled from the Akademiya. The Sages originally looked down on him... but when he uttered that question, their expressions changed."
"He asked them: 'Do you wish to create a god?'"
Alhaitham: "...This is the folly and arrogance at the limits of academic pursuit."
The Scholar continued: "The Akademiya spent years constructing a 'God's Body' based on a sophisticated biomimetic puppet. They then harnessed the Sabzeruz Festival Samsara to harvest dreams, maximizing the Akasha's output power..."
"With the Doctor's help, the core at maximum output successfully extracted the power contained within the Gnosis, transforming it into the Divine Core."
"Afterward, they proposed granting the new god Divine Wisdom. To achieve this, they needed... they needed vast quantities of canned Divine Knowledge."
I see. So, all the extracted canned Divine Knowledge was sent back to the Akademiya to help the new god acquire Divine Wisdom.
The one Alhaitham had secretly kept was merely an accidental leak.